8.3 TSM BA Client Configuration files on Windows and UNIX

TSM BA client on any operating system needs configuration files to connect to the TSM server. Without these files you cannot use BA client features. These files consists of communication, performance and security settings. On Windows, we have only one configuration file which is dsm.opt and on UNIX platforms, we have two configuration files (dsm.opt & dsm.sys) files.

On windows, the client options are in dsm.opt. This is a file that a client can edit. The file contains a default set of processing options that identify the server, communication method, backup and archive options, and scheduling options. If you want to use multiple nodenames for taking backup (application & filelevel), you have to use multiple dsm.opt files.

If you want to use multiple nodenames for taking backups (application & filelevel), you have to use multiple dsm.opt files and only one dsm.sys file. The client system configuration file (dsm.sys) can contain multiple stanzas where each stanza consists of communication and performance parameters. each stanza should have a servername which should match by the servername option in one of the dsm.opt files. If there is no servername parameter in the dsm.sys file, TSM picks-up the first stanza settings by default.

Managing TSM client options

You must set the following communication parameters in the client options file to communicate with the TSM server.

TCPServeraddress

COMMMethod

TCPPORT

NODename

One way of building an options file, is to copy the dsm.smp file in the c:\Program Files\Tivoli\TSM\configdirectory, and uncomment and/or edit commmethod, TCPServeraddress, and add the nodename. Then save the file as dsm.opt in c:\Program Files\Tivoli\TSM\balient.Also Read: Installation & Configuration of TSM Storage Agent (Lanfree Backup)

For Linux and UNIX, copy, edit, and rename dsm.sys.smp to dsm.sys in the baclient directory.

You can also manage client options using one of the following methods

Edit the dsm.opt or dsm.sys files.

Define client preferences in the backup-archive GUI.

Create server generated option sets.

When entering options in your client options file (dsm.opt), use these guidelines

Each comment must have an asterisk (*) as the first character in a line.

Do not enter comments and options on the same line.

Enter each option on a separate line and enter all parameters for an option on the same line.

Enter one or more blank spaces between parameters.

Below video will show how to configure dsm.opt and dsm.sys files in UNIX systems

Editing the client options file

You can build an options file with the backup-archive GUI Preference Editor’s Setup Wizard.

Using the backup-archive GUI, more options available to you

Open the Utilities menu, and select Client Preferences.

Make necessary changes, and click OK to save those changes.

Using the Setup Wizard, basic options only:

Open the Utilities menu, and select Setup Wizard.

Select the Help me configure the TSM Backup Archive Client option.

Click Next.

Select the Update my options file option.

Each time that you make changes to the dsm.opt file, you must stop and restart the client so that the changes take effect.

Tivoli Storage Manager uses the following communications parameters that you must set

General Options

TCPPORT: Use this option to specify a TCP/IP port address of the server. The TCP/IP port address is used to communicate with a Tivoli Storage Manager server. The range of values is 1000 to 32767. The default is 1500. For example:

TCPPORT port_address

TCPSERVERADDRESS: Use this option to specify the TCP/IP address for a Tivoli Storage Manager server. To use the TCP/IP communication protocol, you must include the TCPSERVERADDRESS option in your client option file. The other TCP/IP options have default values that you can modify only if you want to change the default value. Provide a 1-character to 64-character TCP/IP address for a Tivoli Storage Manager server. The value you specify for this parameter can be a TCP/IP Internet domain name or an IP address.

COMMMETHOD: Use this option to specify the communication method that you use to provide connectivity for client-server communication. Options are described below.

NODENAME: Use this option to identify your workstation to the server. The node name is a 1-character to 64-character name that identifies the node that you want to request Tivoli Storage Manager services for. For Windows systems, the default is the name of the machine if you do not use this option. For UNIX, the default is the same name that the hostname command returns. The NODENAME option goes in your client system options file named dsm.sys. UNIX environments use the dsm.opt file.Also Read: Steps to configure SAP Oracle DB backup with TSM for ERP using BRTools

Client server communication options

COMMMETHODOptions to establish communication between the client and server now include the use of Active Directory to locate the Tivoli Storage Manager server. The COMMMETHOD option includes the following values:

V6TCPIP: The Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol (TCP/IP) version 6 communication method. This method is not supported for all functions, including NDMP. Refer to the documentation for a complete list of functions that are not supported. TCP/IP (version 4) and V6TCP/IP (version 6) are used in dedicated or intermixed environments.

NAMEDPIPE: The Named Pipe option that specifies the name of the pipe for communication use between a Tivoli Storage Manager server and Tivoli Storage Manager client that are on the same Windows workstation.

For this value, select the Use Active Directory Lookup communication method to use Windows Active Directory communication information automatically during client initialization. This communication method bypasses communication method parameters that are stored locally in your options file. It directly queries the directory for the communication method and server to connect with.

You can also specify Use Active Directory from the Tivoli Storage Manager Client/Server Communications page of the Client Configuration Wizard. Additionally, you can specify the USEDIRECTORY option in the Tivoli Storage Manager options file or from the command line.

Ensure that the administrator enables only one server and one specific communication protocol for a client node. If a node is registered to more than one server that information is published in Active Directory, the first server that is returned in the directory query is used. If the server cannot be contacted, the client session fails.

The PASSWORDACCESS GENERATE option

The password of the Tivoli Storage Manager backup-archive client is encrypted and stored in a file on the client system. If a client receives a return code from the Tivoli Storage Manager server indicating that the password is expired, the client generates a new random password.

The PASSWORDACCESS GENERATE option You can specify the PASSWORDACCESS GENERATE option in a client option file to allow the use of the web client.

Use the DOMAIN option to specify the drives to include in your client domain for incremental backup. When you use this option in your client option file, it defines your default client domain. The DOMAIN option is an additive option, so it does not override other options. Tivoli Storage Manager uses your default client domain to determine the local drives to process during an incremental backup in the following situations

You run an incremental backup using the incremental command without specifying which local drives to process.

Your Tivoli Storage Manager administrator defines a schedule to run an incremental backup for you, but does not specify which local drives to process.

The domain option applies to all platforms. Consider the term local drives to mean volumes or file systems if one of those terms applies to your platform. For UNIX clients, this option goes in the client user options file.

Use the DOMAIN option to specify the items that you want to include for an incremental backup. You can issue this option in a client options file or from a command line

In the client options file: DOMAIN C: D: E:

From the command line: dsmc incremental –domain=“G: H:”

The ALL-LOCAL parameter backs up all local hard drives, the systemobject domain (Windows 2000, XP), the systemstate domain (Windows Server 2003), and the system services domain (Windows Server 2003). This is the default. To include all the local drives except for the e: drive, enter the following command

dsmc incremental -domain=“ALL-LOCAL -e:”

System Services

All system services components are backed up as part of system state. You cannot back up individual system services components, however, individual components can be restored.

You can exclude individual system services components. Place the exclude.systemservice or exclude.systemobject for Windows XP options in the client options file (dsm.opt). You can also set these options on the Include-Exclude tab, in the Define Include-Exclude Options section of the Preferences editor.

Additional Client Options

Below are some of the additional options by which you can manage client-server connections